Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
on Monday called the alleged racist murder in New Delhi of 19-year-old
Nido Taniam as "totally unacceptable" as he met students from the North
East, who were holding a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar for the
deceased student from Arunachal Pradesh.

The
Gandhi scion's support of the protest is in stark contrast to the
silence he maintained over the December 16 gang-rape in the Capital in
2012.

Talking to the
students, Rahul said: "Which India matters to you? Only one India
matters to me where there is justice. My spirit and heart is with you. I
am 100 per cent with you."

He left the crowd assured that
strict action would be taken in the case and said work has begun on
setting up a committee to study cases of violence against people from
the North East in the metros.
Rahul's assurances showed quick results, with the Delhi Police arresting three people in connection with the case.

POLICE ARREST THREE FOR DEATH OF NIDO

Six persons, including two juveniles,
were involved in the assault that allegedly led to the death of Nido
Taniam, the police said on Monday.

Three
persons have been arrested for assaulting the Arunachali teenager, the
police said. Among the arrested persons are Farman and Akram.

AN SIT has been formed under the supervision of DCP (South- East) P. Karunakaran to investigate the case.

During investigation, it has emerged that Taniam was brought to the police station by a PCR van.

"From
the police station, Taniam was taken for inquiry to the spot by two
police officers, but he was not assaulted again there," Delhi Police
spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

Taniam
was then brought back to the police station by both the officers.

He
was later handed over to a family friend Vinod R. Bansal and his friend
Varun with whom he left the police station.

The police have also constituted a
special investigation team (SIT) to investigate Taniam's death. The
protesters read out 16 demands to Rahul and a memorandum was submitted
to him.

Runu Boham, a family friend of the Taniam's, presented a letter from the family to Rahul, which was read out.

"The assurance from Rahul Gandhi and his presence here has given us the assurance that justice will be done," she said.

Scores
of students joined the sit-in, which was organised by the Arunachal
Students' Union Delhi (ASUD), Naga Students' Union Delhi (NSUD) and
other student associations from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur and
Assam.

However, the protesters are in no mood to budge and have vowed to continue the candlelight vigil till their demands are met.

"We cannot rely on politicians. We need to see results," said one of the protestors.

"We want the SHO and constable to be suspended and the culprits to be
brought to book. We demand a strong anti-racial law, which should be
debated in the upcoming session of Parliament.

"Until
we see results, the protest will continue everyday from 3pm to 7pm at
Jantar Mantar. We will start an indefinite hunger strike from Thursday
if our demands are not met," said Arunachal Student Union vice-president
Yeshi Wangchu.

Geethartha
Barua, additional private secretary to the Chief Minister of Arunachal
Pradesh, alleged that lower-rung police officials at the Lajpat Nagar
police station were trying to "manipulate" the findings of the autopsy
report as it would suit the police to simply say that Taniam's death was
not related to the thrashing he received from the shopkeepers in the
area on January 29.

"There
is a possibility that he (Tania) was coerced to sign the documents
stating that he does not require a medical examination," said Barua.

Kon
Jirjo a family friend of the deceased said: "People are trying to
portray that Nido was fit when he left the police station, which is not
true.

"Some people are
spreading rumours that he had taken excessive pain killers which might
have led to his death. This is not true."

Slogans such as 'Long live Nido' and 'down with racism' resonated at the protest site.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has lost faith in the state police

Kejriwal cornered over Nido's death

The
Arvind Kejriwal government found itself cornered on two fronts by the
Delhi HC and the LG's office over the death of Nido Taniam, on Monday.
Taking suo moto cognisance of media reports about the attack on the
North-East student, the Delhi HC issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi
government and the police, seeking a report on the steps taken to
ensure the safety of the N-E students after the incident by February 5.
"The incident has raised concerns over the security of students from the North-East in the Capital.
"Even
girls from the region are harassed here. If one remains unsafe in the
Capital, what will the condition be in the rest of the country?," a
division bench asked.
Meanwhile,
Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung questioned Kejriwal's decision to order a
magisterial probe. Kejriwal, however, said that the state has lost
confidence in the abilities of the Delhi Police.

Four more people were
arrested on Monday for alleged involvement in the molestation and
assault of two Manipuri women in south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area,
police said. The police has not revealed the identity of the four saying that a test identification parade will be conducted first. Meanwhile,
the main accused Prem Chand, was sent to a day's remand after
investigators said they needed him for further interrogation to trace
the other accused.